According to Udaipur Kiran, taking lessons from the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, India has intensified preparations to start testing its Agni Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) with a range beyond 5,000 to 10,000 km.
The reason behind the testing of the upcoming three Agni-6 missiles is to secure the Indian territory as well as to take the most remote areas of China under its control. With this, India will be counted among those countries which have ICBM, which means the US, Russia, France and China.
So far, India has limited its official range to 5,000 km after conducting a pre-induction trial of the Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) nuclear-capable Agni-5 in January 2018, Udaipur Kiran recalls. The 5,000 km range means it can reach India’s main geopolitical rival China’s important cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong are covered. Apart from this, it is able to take all Asian countries, parts of Africa and Europe under its control. But there is no official confirmation of the deployment of Agni-5 on any border of China or Pakistan. But Agni-6 will extend India’s deterrence power. By getting able to reach the most remote areas of China.
To date, Udaipur Kiran recalls, India is armed with four types of Agni series missiles: Agni-1 with a range of 2,000 km. Agni-2 with a range of up to 2,500 km, Agni-3 and Agni-4 with a range of up to 3,500 km. Reôrted by Udaipur Kiran, DRDO officials said that any missile with less payload, and better navigation can increase its range but requires testing. He said India had not officially crossed the range of IRBM till the testing of Agni-5.